In the News

October 27, 2016 | It’s an open secret in the political world that most congressional contests are not contests at all; incumbents tend to raise more money than challengers, and better-funded campaigns almost always win. In some of the most expensive Senate races this cycle, however, challengers are attracting more money from outside spending groups than incumbents, and it may…

June 17, 2016 | Mitch McConnell may have been grateful to many for his party’s gains in the 2014 midterms — victories that saw him sworn in as the new majority leader of a GOP-controlled Senate. But somewhere near the top of his “thank you” list should have been those who were running a handful of shadowy groups in North Carolina, Kentucky…

August 28, 2015 | The Arkansas man who dropped $3 million into the super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee‘s bid for the Republican presidential nomination for years handed out millions of dollars to a secret list of public charities through a pass-through private foundation called The Jesus Fund, tax forms filed by the foundation show. The Fund’s activity may violate…

June 18, 2015 | Real estate mogul Donald Trump has toyed around with running for president many times before, only to decide later on that he wouldn’t do so. Earlier this week, however, “The Donald” — a man who constantly flaunts his wealth and in recent years made a habit out of questioning the validity of President Barack Obama’s…

March 11, 2015 | Big money hates the underdog. But what happens when the underdog wins? The race to make amends with the newcomer is a mad dash down K Street after every election, and recent campaign disclosures show some striking turnabouts by big-league PACs. More than any favoritism for Democrats or Republicans, big PAC money most reliably supports…

January 30, 2015 | If writing checks to politicians and political causes is any indicator of how well a team will do in a Super Bowl, the Patriots should start dusting off this year’s Vince Lombardi trophy — but it’s not going to be a blowout. Really, it would come down to a battle between the owners, and it would be close…

December 16, 2014 | Following mixed results in the 2014 midterms, Club for Growth last week announced a change of leadership. As of Jan. 1, former Indiana Rep. David McIntosh (R) will replace current Club president Chris Chocola, whose tenure saw the group go through ups and downs. Club chairman Jackson T. Stephens Jr. praised the outgoing president in…

November 3, 2014 | It’s official. Today, spending by “dark money” organizations on congressional elections surpassed that of all previous cycles. At $169.2 million so far, money spent by these groups that don’t disclose their donors handily outpaces 2010’s previous record for a midterm election, where dark money spending topped out at $135 million. It even, albeit barely, tops the $168.6 million spent…

October 31, 2014 | This story is cross-posted at TIME.com With just a few days remaining in the first quarter of 2014, Mary Landrieu did something generous: The embattled Democratic senator from Louisiana, herself in the midst of an exceedingly tough re-election race, used her leadership PAC to give $5,000 to the campaign of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who…

October 27, 2014 | In the sprint to Nov. 4, both parties are heaping mounds of cash on their state affiliates. With this election cycle shaping up to be the most expensive in history in terms of spending on congressional races, some state parties are now raising unprecedented amounts of money. In fickle Alaska, both national parties are leaving no stone unturned and…

Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.